


A Tangle of Trust

by Lazchan



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Gift Fic, Maybe Greed pair spoilers, Volume 4 spoilers, spoilers for Lily arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 01:56:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7738972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So Mizu got me into Servamp, enough that I bought the manga and am happily blowing my way through the storyline. This ficlet is going to have spoilers for the Lily arc and a bit of the Greed arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tangle of Trust

_It's such a pain…_ Kuro thought absently, tucked away as he was in Mahiru's bag, watching his Eve do sports for his class. _Too much energy, too much moving around—no wonder he jumps around so much whenever we have to fight._ It made him tired just to look at him.

 

There was a lot of scuffling and pushing and Kuro was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep when he heard a yelp and a thud and felt the bond between him and Mahiru vibrate slightly with the shock of an injury. He couldn't do anything, not like this, not in the stupid sunlight and certainly not around Mahiru's classmates. It couldn’t be any of Tsubaki's subclasses; he would have sensed it. He was still halfway out of the bag, though when his expression narrowed in on Mahiru, who just looked sheepish.

 

"No, no—wasn't hurt at all," he said easily—cheerfully—rubbing the back of his head and looking as if nothing was wrong. He was leaning against one of the concrete pillars in the room, looking a bit dazed, but uninjured. His classmates stared at him, all of them a little stunned.

 

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the nurse, Shirota-san? That…that looked like it hurt—"

 

Mahiru looked a little surprised, staring back at the pillar. He bit his lip and gave a shrug. "I think I stopped myself before I really hit it. I'm fine—I promise.." Mahiru stepped away and looked as convincing as possible.

 

Kuro sighed a little. Of course Mahiru would be fine, with only a little bump like that. No matter if someone had pushed him or he had tripped over his own feet, something as simple as that wouldn't have hurt him; not anymore. He felt guilty for it; if it wasn’t for Mahiru picking him up that day, he never would had stupidly stumbled into becoming the Eve of a servamp. He tuned out Mahiru's protests and curled back into his bag. He wasn't in any danger.

 

~

 

It wasn't the only time that day Mahiru got hurt—he was always the one to do _something_ when no one else would do it. Whether it was sewing or cooking or making sure that girl with the too-big shoes wasn't going to fall down the stairs….

 

He winced at that one. Mahiru had curled himself around Kuro, as if _he_ would be the one to get more hurt than his Eve. Mahiru may have been more durable, but there were still limits, there was still going to be pain and bruises. _Is he trying to prove something?_ He couldn’t wait for this day to be over so he could try and find out when they were home. It was going to be a pain, but he would have to at least ask if Miharu had been listening when Lawless 'let it drop' about an Eve being stronger than normal humans.

 

How did Mahiru put it? _To look at it simply, it just made sense_. He just never brought it up because it would be a pain to keep Mahiru from being even more reckless. He was already convinced that he had to reach Kuro's standards for some reason.

 

_When did I ever give him that impression…_ Kuro would have been happier just pretending that Tsubaki didn't exist and his other siblings weren't crashing in on his life again.

 

**_That's right… you don't want to think about what happened… what they'll bring up. What they'll say to Mahiru. What do you think he'll say if he knew all of what you did?_ **

He shuddered at the intrusive voice, wanting to cover his ears, block out his mind and the insidious whispering that crept into every corner of his being.

 

**_Mahiru wouldn't think so highly of you then… poor little first brother. Making all the choices, all those people that suffered because of you…lazy cat, having your Eve do all the work._ **

****

Kuro growled and swatted at the demon-image. "Enough," he hissed out. His inner demon only spoke the truth to him, but it didn't mean he had to listen.

 

"Kuro… are you okay?" Mahiru looked down at him, putting his bag down before shutting the curtains to the house. Even if the sun was already setting, Kuro appreciated the gesture. He changed back into the form that was had opposable thumbs and made eating ramen and playing video games easier. _A form easier to protect your idiot, reckless Eve_. That wasn't even the demon speaking to him, but Kuro ignored the thought just the same.

 

He shrugged and hunched further into his coat, following Mahiru into the kitchen. "Yeah," he muttered. "Just…" he hesitated over the words. It was such a pain to bring it up. What if he actually gave Mahiru the wrong idea? "Why did you… protect me when you fell down the stairs?" It was almost too many words at once. "It's not like I'll get hurt."

 

Mahiru stopped from pouring water into the teapot, staring at him in surprise. "You can still get hurt, Kuro," he almost sounded like he was scolding him and Kuro turned his face away. "I … I know I can't do too much yet, but I can at least… let me at least do what I can." Now it was Mahiru that was the one turning away and Kuro blinked at him.

 

"Mahiru…" he half-reached out, before letting his hand fall to his side again. _But you already do too much_.

 

"I mean—I can't even use my weapon yet properly. Licht… Licht was able to take it from me and use it in a way that I didn't know you could use it." He turned back to the sink, filling the pot the rest of the way and setting it to boil, pulling out Kuro's favorite ramen packets while he waited. "I know you said that it doesn't matter, but—"

 

There was a long pause and Kuro stared at Mahiru, waiting for the other to get up the courage to speak. It usually wasn't this difficult for him. "Do you regret that… I made you my Servamp?" Miharu's voice was almost lost to the whistling of the kettle. "I know that … you never wanted it. That you'd rather have stayed a cat." He fiddled with the packaging of the ramen bowl.

 

There was _trust_ in the partnership and then there was uncertainty and self doubt and Kuro was more than familiar with how self doubt could hurt you in ways that wasn't visible to anyone else. Mahiru never really spoke of it; he said he had wanted to stay Kuro's partner, to be worthy, to become stronger… but he _questioned_ whether Kuro wanted it or not?

 

Kuro stared down, wanting to simply slip into cat form and not think about it, but Mahiru deserved an answer. His hands slipped around the bell that was Mahiru's gift to him and he held it gently. It should be easy to explain, but… "What a pain," he murmured. "I thought it was obvious."

 

When Mahiru gave him a blank look, he sighed. "If I didn’t want you as my Eve, there are ways to end the contract. Didn't that doll-loving weirdo tell you that? It's not just you that could end the contract." He clutched the bell a little tighter. He had come to _like_ having Mahiru as his partner.

 

Mahiru's confused look spread to one of understanding and then a real smile spread across his face. "I… I'm glad, Kuro," he whispered, turning back to the ramen with a quick turn and pouring in the hot water. "I know I'm not that good with my Lead yet… and.. and there's still a lot I've got to learn about … about everything and…" _And you_ was the unspoken words that Kuro could hear almost as clearly as if Mahiru spoke them.

 

The bond was getting tighter and tighter around them and Mahiru pushed it unwittingly, with his words of _trust_ and _caring_ and it was all too much for him to think about at the moment. He didn't want to admit that he had been a little worried when Pride had ordered his Eve to smash the bell that was the symbol of their contract. A part of him was relieved when he knew that Tsubaki couldn't break them that way.

 

**_But you can break your Eve… Sleepy Ash has too many secrets… will you Eve trust you with those secrets, will your Eve stay by your side and make you your ramen when he knows all of what you have done?_ **

Kuro growled softly and snatched the bowl of ramen, hunching further into his coat."It's enough for now," he muttered. "You're too energetic and it's troublesome for a cat like me."

 

The bell jangled as it swayed from his rough handling of it and he heard Mahiru follow him into the main room, not saying anything, but there was that _feeling_ of understanding again. Much of more this and Mahiru would be able to see—

 

\--and while he had been inside his mind before, he wasn't quite ready to let Mahiru in again. Not yet—maybe not ever, but this…

 

Mahiru leaned against his side carefully as he turned on the tv to one of the shows that Kuro liked; a cooking show that had impossible ingredients and more impossible qualifications to make the dish work. Kuro kept his face down and focused on his noodles so that Mahiru wouldn't see the slight smile on his face.

 

He wasn't going to lose his Eve. He would protect him from what would hurt him in any way he could—whether it was Mahiru's idiotic recklessness or Kuro himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
